apple trees

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 10 Feb 2014, 16:18

Bramleys are quite an interesting beast where we are. The combo of sunny summers (East) and early frosts (North. And East as well, I suppose) causes them to blush if they're left on the tree for long enough. This makes them much sweeter than they would otherwise be. Ours were enormous last year, about the size of large grapefruit.

Post by **clv101** » 10 Feb 2014, 18:45

Pepperman wrote:are you sure about April being the planting season for fruit trees? Bare rooted trees which you will order online should really be planted in winter when the trees are dormant - April's getting a bit late I think.

The general rule is prune stone fruits in summer, apples and pears in winter.

Now, is the right time to plant bare rooted fruit trees - at least I hope it is, as I planted 19 yesterday!

Pepperman · Post by **Pepperman** » 10 Feb 2014, 19:14

UndercoverElephant wrote:I'm planning on using our bramleys to make cider next year. Apparently they are quite difficult to use because they are so hard, but there is nothing wrong with the cider you get at the end of the process.

The finer you can mash them before pressing, the easier it is to get the juice out. If you can get access to a proper mill then you'll be laughing - these bad boys are the best but are expensive for the hobbyist.

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 10 Feb 2014, 21:22

Or freeze for a few days then defrost.

featherstick · Post by **featherstick** » 10 Feb 2014, 21:34

Really useful thread, I've just picked up a new household on my Master Gardener volunteering, with 6 apple trees in bad need of a pruning.

westcoast · Post by **westcoast** » 10 Feb 2014, 21:48

pepperman,

Yes April is late but up here all the dates in books etc are early, I estimate we are a full 4 weeks after down south. This is made up for I think by our longer days in summer resulting in faster growth. Planting in winter is pretty standard but here you're just putting it in cold wet ground to get battered and blown for the winter period. I prefer planting as late as possible in spring before the growth starts at least then it has had time to get some roots down before the next winter. Seems to work OK for me though.

Tarrel · Post by **Tarrel** » 10 Feb 2014, 23:07

Yes, I would agree with that. Our Noble Firs often don't flush until May.

UndercoverElephant · Post by **UndercoverElephant** » 11 Feb 2014, 00:14

And a full four weeks ahead in the autumn...

Fly agarics in August!!!

Tarrel · Post by **Tarrel** » 11 Feb 2014, 09:06

It's all about yer latitude, innit? 58 degrees north!

peaceful_life · Post by **peaceful_life** » 12 Feb 2014, 17:51

We could really do with a nationwide school project on growing apple from seed to increase the pool of genetic diversity and resilience.

Post by **kenneal - lagger** » 12 Feb 2014, 18:26

Haven't we got several hundred varieties of apple already?

peaceful_life · Post by **peaceful_life** » 12 Feb 2014, 18:48

kenneal - lagger wrote:Haven't we got several hundred varieties of apple already?

Yeah, but grafted and spliced to dilution.... and evolved in more stable climatic conditions. The more the better for diversity and resilience.
Plus....it'd be a positive project for schools, for negligible amounts of money.

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 12 Feb 2014, 20:17

Hmmm... Growing apples from seeds occasionally gets a good result but usually is a disappointment. I don't think school children have the time and patience for that sort of project.

Post by **clv101** » 12 Feb 2014, 20:19

I can see it being a problem that almost all apple trees are gown on one of only a dozen or so different (each genetically identical) rootstocks. But there are several hundred fairly widely grown cultivars (but I bet only a dozen or so represent most of the trees). However this isn't a situation that's getting 'worse'. There's no harm in grafting - in fact if we didn't graft the previously identified 'good' cultivars onto dwarfing rootstocks all we'd have would be vast diversity of crab apples, only coming into fruit after 5+ years and growing to unmanageable sizes.

The development of precocious, dwarfing rootstocks (largely pre-war) has been a very good thing. As has the discovery and subsequent propagation of good cultivars. In fact many decades ago, my partner's great-grandfather planted an apple pip and against the odds grew a palatable apple tree - and has been officially recognised (link). I'll be grafting from the original tree in a couple of weeks.

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 12 Feb 2014, 20:24

I called in at the Aldi in Lincoln today but they only had Jonagold. Nice looking trees and only £3.99 but I left them for someone else.

Maybe we ought to increase the genetic diversity of rootstocks. I have a diverse collection of crab-apples but how do you assess their worth as rootstocks?